Judge indefinitely blocks Trump $1.8B 'slush fund' that administration claimed was dead

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Fri Jun 12, 2026, 01:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: The Independent

Friday 12 June 2026 11:14 EDT


A federal judge has indefinitely blocked Donald Trump’s administration from implementing a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for his political allies after officials claimed they were “not moving forward” with the plans. Friday’s injunction from District Judge Leonie Brinkema extends a previous order that prevented the government from “taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund” — including transferring money to it, considering any claims and mailing any checks while a legal challenge plays out.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice insisted the administration would follow the court’s order and abandon plans for the fund, but officials have also suggested that they are still looking for pathways to issue massive taxpayer-funded payouts to alleged “victims” of government “weaponization,” including January 6 rioters and close allies of the president.

The now-blocked $1.1776 billion fund – announced as part an agreement between the president and the IRS after he sued his own administration for $10 billion — would be used to settle claims from those alleged “victims.”. Several lawsuits were filed in response, including a case brought by a career federal prosecutor who says he was fired in retaliation for working on cases against members of the mob that broke into the Capitol on January 6, 2021 — a history that the Trump administration has sought to rewrite with the erasure of hundreds of convictions.

Those former defendants quickly lined up to file multi-million dollar claims with the now-defunct fund. Brinkema, who is overseeing the case from former prosecutor Andrew Floyd, issued her initial injunction late last month. That injunction was set to expire Friday. The Justice Department now has a week to provide her with evidence that the fund has been permanently abandoned.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-slush-fund-weaponization-blocked-b2994800.html

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Link to. ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617.85.0_1.pdf

[kentuck]

1. The Republicans are accomplices...

They had a chance to vote to dismiss it altogether and they chose not to do it. They are accomplices in a crime.

[hlthe2b]

2. What about the supposed inclusion of a civil immunity clause for Trump & family on taxes,

tax fraud, and all associated potential future investigations by IRS?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Judge Blocks Anti-Weaponization Slush Fund

No one trusts Blanche or trump and so a court enjoined this fund

Link to tweet

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/judge-blocks-anti-weaponization-slush-fund

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA — In a major blow to President Trump’s anti-weaponization slush fund, a federal judge in Virginia issued a preliminary injunction blocking the fund. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema gave the administration a week to file a declaration, under penalty of perjury, that the fund is not going forward.

Brinkema issued her ruling from the bench after a brief Friday hearing in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. The judge’s decision swept away arguments raised by the administration that she lacked jurisdiction to hear the case and that other procedural problems meant that it should prevail. She ran Justice Department lawyer Andrew Bloch through his paces on why the administration had not committed to rescinding the fund in writing.

Ultimately, Brinkema found that all the elements were met to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the fund from going forward. But she did give the administration one week to file a declaration from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, under penalty of perjury, formally rescinding the fund. While plaintiffs were initially hesitant about whether the declaration would be sufficient for them to dismiss their case, the judge said that she would likely find that declaration sufficient to render the case moot.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Have been refreshing Courtlisterner waiting for an upload of this

(and scanning other news sites for a PDF that they might have since they are all reading from something).

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Federal judge indefinitely blocks Trump's $1.8 billion payout fund

U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said the government has not provided “absolute certainty” it won’t try to resurrect the fund in the future.

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/06/12/federal-judge-indefinitely-blocks-trumps-18-billion-payout-fund

A federal judge on Friday indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion payout fund, which is still being challenged in court despite Justice Department officials claiming the effort is dead.

At a hearing in Virginia federal court, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema issued a preliminary injunction blocking the fund, which the administration sought to create for those who claim they were improperly investigated by the government. She forcefully rejected the government’s arguments that the case was moot, citing Trump’s praising of the idea and acting attorney general Todd Blanche’s unwillingness to say under the penalty of perjury that the administration will not try to stand it up in the future.

A federal judge on Friday indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion payout fund, which is still being challenged in court despite Justice Department officials claiming the effort is dead.

At a hearing in Virginia federal court, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema issued a preliminary injunction blocking the fund, which the administration sought to create for those who claim they were improperly investigated by the government. She forcefully rejected the government’s arguments that the case was moot, citing Trump’s praising of the idea and acting attorney general Todd Blanche’s unwillingness to say under the penalty of perjury that the administration will not try to stand it up in the future.....

Separately, Blanche told members of Congress that the administration had scrapped plans for the fund after intense and bipartisan political backlash. But he has resisted calls to put that pledge in writing or to publicly amend the agreement that created the fund, an out-of-court deal the president’s personal lawyers struck with the Justice Department to resolve three legal claims Trump had filed against the government.

This order is necessary because no one believes trump or Blanche. trump really wants this weaponization fund and the DOJ is attempting to find a way to create this fund see https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221298719

[republianmushroom]

6. Thank you Judge Brinkema.

As we all know this administration lies a lot.

[dickthegrouch]

7. A fund by any other name would smell as foul! /nt

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. Trump lawyers: No collusion with Trump administration to create 'Anti-Weaponization' fund

I admit that I am a geek. I found and read trump's filing late last night. I was NOT impressed. Basically, there was no collusion and there was a real "case or controversy" (this is required for the court to have jurisdiction) because they say so. I was NOT impressed

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/12/trump-lawyers-no-collusion-trump-administration-anti-weaponization-fund-00961288

Attorneys for President Donald Trump are rejecting allegations that they defrauded a federal court in Florida by bringing a lawsuit against the IRS — only to settle with the Trump-led Justice Department in a deal crafted to establish a so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”

The Friday night filing with a federal judge in Miami was the first public defense of the settlement by Trump’s private attorneys since it came under intense attack by lawmakers, prompting the administration to retreat from the planned $1.8 billion fund for victims of allegedly politicized investigations and indictments.

Trump sued the agency for $10 billion in January over the 2020 leak of his tax returns by an IRS contractor who subsequently pleaded guilty to the breach. The lawsuit raised immediate questions about a conflict raised by the sitting president suing an agency he oversees. But Trump quickly abandoned the suit as details about the settlement began to emerge.

Trump’s lawyers invoked a federal court rule that allows plaintiffs in a case to drop it early in the litigation without explanation or substantive involvement by the judge....

Attorneys for President Donald Trump are rejecting allegations that they defrauded a federal court in Florida by bringing a lawsuit against the IRS — only to settle with the Trump-led Justice Department in a deal crafted to establish a so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”

The Friday night filing with a federal judge in Miami was the first public defense of the settlement by Trump’s private attorneys since it came under intense attack by lawmakers, prompting the administration to retreat from the planned $1.8 billion fund for victims of allegedly politicized investigations and indictments.

Trump sued the agency for $10 billion in January over the 2020 leak of his tax returns by an IRS contractor who subsequently pleaded guilty to the breach. The lawsuit raised immediate questions about a conflict raised by the sitting president suing an agency he oversees. But Trump quickly abandoned the suit as details about the settlement began to emerge.

Trump’s lawyers invoked a federal court rule that allows plaintiffs in a case to drop it early in the litigation without explanation or substantive involvement by the judge.

Again, for a federal court to have jurisdiction, there must be a "case or controversy". trump was on both sides of this litigation and this brief wants to ignore reality.

This will be fun to watch.